Kurt Schaefer’s (r) 2016 attorney general campaign filed its July quarterly campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:

C081145: Citizens To Elect Kurt Schaefer Attorney General

  Committee Type: Candidate

Po Box 1614 Party Affiliation: Republican

Columbia Mo 65205 Established Date: 04/04/2008

[….]

Information Reported On: 2015 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $1,326,971.20

Monetary Receipts + $96,097.50

Monetary Expenditures – $38,920.56

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $0.00

Subtotal     $57,176.94

Ending Money On Hand   $1,384,148.14

[emphasis added]

Not a particularly active fundraising quarter, though the cash on hand, at first glance, is impressive. There is $544,822.93 in outstanding indebtedness.

The contributions:

Contributions to Kurt Schaefer’s (r) 2016 attorney general campaign reported on its July 2015 quarterly campaign finance report.

Contributions to Kurt Schaefer’s (r) 2016 attorney general campaign reported on its July 2015 quarterly campaign finance report.

Pfizer PAC $5,001.00

Bob McCosh Chevrolet $5,000.00

Missouri Soybean Association $5,000.00

Otto Maly $5,000.00

RightChoice Managed Care $5,000.00

Alliance for Higher Education $2,500.00

CenturyLink $2,500.00

Cerner PAC $2,500.00

Coalition for Advanced Learning $2,500.00

Dealers Interested in Government $2,500.00

Express Scripts $2,500.00

Glazer’s Missouri PAC $2,500.00

Kum & Go $2,500.00

MHA $2,500.00

Missouri Realtors PAC $2,500.00

MO Corn Growers Association $2,500.00

MO Dental PAC $2,500.00

MO Health Care Association $2,500.00

Supporters of Health Research $2,500.00

Orscheln Management $2,000.00

GibbonsWorkman $1,500.00

Kevin Greenberg $1,500.00

MARF $1,500.00

MO Asphalt Pavement Assn $1,500.00

Support Kids Services $1,500.00

ACE Group PAC $1,000.00

Brent Hemphill $1,000.00

Cozen O’Connor PAC $1,000.00

Heal PAC $1,000.00

Microsoft Corp PAC $1,000.00

MOSFA PAC $1,000.00

Neal Bredehoeft $1,000.00

Penman & Winton $1,000.00

Polsinelli $1,000.00

Randy Coil $1,000.00

Robert Alpers $1,000.00

Ronald Russell $1,000.00

Thomas Rafter $1,000.00

Travelers Indemnity $1,000.00

W. E. Shoehigh $1,000.00

Warren Stemme $1,000.00

MFA Oil $800.00

AMEC PAC $600.00

Bristol-Meyers Squibb $500.00

Central Bancompany PAC $500.00

D. C. Inc $500.00

FEAPAC $500.00

Gary Drawing $500.00

Greg Steinhoff $500.00

Hulett Heating $500.00

Jennifer Brant Bukowsky $500.00

MBA Capitol Region $500.00

MO American Water Employees $500.00

MO Beer Wholesalers $500.00

MO Independent Bankers Assoc $500.00

Re/Max Boone Realty $500.00

Socket Telecom $500.00

Toni Wyrick $500.00

Reid & Associates $150.00

There are a lot of PACs in the mix.

Some of the expenditures:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES OVER $100 SUPPLEMENTAL FORM

CITIZENS TO ELECT KURT SCHAEFER ATTORNEY GENERAL [pdf] 7/15/2015

Robert Knodell 110 Venus Holts Summit MO 65043 6/4/2015 Campaign Worker $10,000.00

VPR 2870 S Ingram Mill Road Springfield MO 65804 6/10/2015 public relations $5,291.01

Mike Roman & Associates 2305 Rhawn Street Philadelphia PA 19152 4/1/2015 research $7,500.00

[emphasis added]

======================

Jake Zimmerman’s (D) 2016 attorney general campaign filed its July quarterly campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:

C051130: Citizens For Jake Zimmerman

  Committee Type: Candidate

9046 Old Bonhomme Road Party Affiliation: Democrat

St Louis Mo 63132 Established Date: 06/13/2005

[….]

Information Reported On: 2015 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $797,924.74

Monetary Receipts + $156,129.57

Monetary Expenditures – $30,862.82

Contributions Made – $50.00

Other Disbursements – $2,081.91

Subtotal     $123,134.84

Ending Money On Hand   $921,059.58

[emphasis added]

An comparatively impressive fundraising quarter and a healthy cash on hand. There is $203,890.86 in outstanding indebtedness.

The contributions:

Contributions to Jake Zimmerman’s (D) 2016 attorney general campaign reported on its July 2015 quarterly campaign finance report.

Contributions to Jake Zimmerman’s (D) 2016 attorney general campaign reported on its July 2015 quarterly campaign finance report.

David Roberts $5,000.00

Steve Berman $5,000.00

Matthew Fischer $5,000.00

Archein Construction $5,000.00

Michael Staenberg $5,000.00

University Terrace Association $4,800.00

Robern Incorporated $2,500.00

Christopher Giampapa $2,500.00

Hugh Scott $2,500.00

Ed Balk $2,500.00

CLAYCO $2,500.00

Lawrence Chapman $2,500.00

Terry Bloomberg $2,500.00

Howard Jacobson $2,500.00

Don Musick $2,500.00

Hensley Construction $2,500.00

Stone Leyton & Gershman $2,000.00

Paramount Apparel $2,000.00

Cathy Steele $2,000.00

Schlichter Bogard & Denton $1,500.00

Stone & Alter Real Estate $1,500.00

University Square $1,500.00

Anthony Shapiro $1,500.00

City Wireless $1,500.00

Gloss LLC $1,500.00

Stephanie Peterson $1,100.00

Robert Denlow $1,000.00

American Medical Consulting $1,000.00

Roby Robertson $1,000.00

Matthew Landwehr $1,000.00

Mary R Wolff Real Estate $1,000.00

Sheila Greenbaum $1,000.00

John Dubinsky $1,000.00

Kristoffer Boevingloh $1,000.00

Gary Heifetz $1,000.00

Friends of Bill Frick $1,000.00

Phil Calabrese $1,000.00

Karen Levy $1,000.00

Robert Gellman $1,000.00

Vivian Gellman $1,000.00

Charles Sanders $1,000.00

Cerame Trust Management $1,000.00

Sun Associates Kirkwood $1,000.00

Atlantic Apartment $1,000.00

Charles Hatfield $1,000.00

Thomas Zupon $1,000.00

Commercial Bank $1,000.00

Reinsurance Group of America $1,000.00

Dean Franklin $1,000.00

Ken Katzif $1,000.00

David Bohm $1,000.00

BNSF Railway $1,000.00

Kevin Buchek $1,000.00

Donna Moog Landsbaum $1,000.00

William Murphy $1,000.00

George Capps $1,000.00

Express Scripts $1,000.00

Sauter Sullivan $1,000.00

Goralnik-Muskin Properties $1,000.00

Paul Macon $1,000.00

Scott Stern $1,000.00

MOSFA PAC $1,000.00

Aimee Aver $1,000.00

Ron Danna $1,000.00

Steven Funk $1,000.00

Kim Jacobs $1,000.00

Pagedale Business Center $1,000.00

Dudley Von Holt $900.00

Jeniphr A. E. Breckenridge $750.00

Christopher O’Hara $750.00

Andrew Volk $750.00

Shelter Insurance $750.00

Steven Sherman $700.00

Jennifer Connolly $500.00

Thomas Loeser $500.00

Seph McNamara $500.00

Cynthia Allen $500.00

Chesterfield Place $500.00

Creve Coeur Real Estate $500.00

Deerfield Apartments $500.00

Pebble Point Apartments $500.00

Daniel McCuaig $500.00

Tamar Fernandez $500.00

Paul Sonderegger $500.00

Paul Forman $500.00

Jason Growe $500.00

Thomas Litz $500.00

Andrew Smolik $500.00

Robert Goldson $500.00

Daniel Engle $500.00

Andrew Voss $500.00

Suzanne Fischer $500.00

Richard Fister $500.00

Charles Friedman $500.00

Douglas Baron $500.00

Edward Cohen $500.00

Lawrence Friedman $500.00

Barbara Geisman $500.00

Bob Hull $500.00

Kenton Knickmeyer $500.00

Raymond Massey $500.00

Thomas Snider $500.00

Isaac Young $500.00

Matt Fillo $500.00

Terry Stone $500.00

Daryl Crone $500.00

Janette Lohman $500.00

Khristine Heisinger $500.00

Jay Baumohl $500.00

Mark Sableman $500.00

MACO Development $500.00

William Koenigsdorf $500.00

Kay Drey $500.00

Daniel Cox $500.00

Sanford Jaffe $500.00

Kirk Presley $500.00

Sara Seabaugh $500.00

Robert Wagner $500.00

Murphy Orlando $500.00

Gordon Ankney $500.00

Robert Elgin $500.00

William Killian $500.00

Irv Rothenberg $500.00

N D Consulting $500.00

Rava Consulting $500.00

Enterprise Holdings $500.00

Joan Ellyn Silber $360.00

Michael Scully $350.00

Russell Iungerich $300.00

Rush Robinson $300.00

Jason Wheeler $300.00

Francine Cantor $270.00

Francis Buckley $250.00

Kathleen Sorkin $250.00

Howard Smith $250.00

Michael Litwack $250.00

Susan Block $250.00

William Danforth $250.00

Scott Wilson $250.00

Harry Hulings $250.00

David Capes $250.00

Brian Stone $250.00

Rodney Harrison $250.00

John Phillips $250.00

Paul Flotken $250.00

Robert Rothschild $250.00

Edward Goldberg $250.00

Eileen Hulsey $250.00

Scott Claassen $250.00

Mary Still $250.00

Mary Buenger $250.00

Gregory Patterson $250.00

Steven Cousins $250.00

Martin Israel $250.00

Seth Albin $250.00

Dan Ball $250.00

Christopher Bauman $250.00

Alex Berger $250.00

M. Susan Carlson $250.00

Barry Cervantes $250.00

Charles Elbert $250.00

Leonard Frankel $250.00

Robert Newmark $250.00

Susan Talve $250.00

Dan White $250.00

Kimberly Yates $250.00

Ivy Arai Tabbara $200.00

Christopher Thau $200.00

Jason Linder $200.00

Bruce Ryder $200.00

Linda Shapiro $200.00

William Holtz $150.00

Ashley Hanna $150.00

Humberto Reboredo $150.00

Amanda Kelley $150.00

Paul Donnelly $150.00

Michael Meredith $150.00

Benjamin Uchitelle $150.00

Timothy O’Connell $125.00

Valery Starr $125.00

Zileta Lolly Bennett $118.00

Catherine Schroeder $118.00

Morris Sterneck $100.00

Aaron McMurtray $100.00

JAC Consulting $100.00

Richard Halpern $100.00

Ray Dobinsky $100.00

Alan Sachs $100.00

James Graves $75.00

Shiran Kochavi $50.00

William Curtis $50.00

Zach Vigna $50.00

William Curtis $50.00

Kathleen Sorkin $25.00

Some of the expenditures:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES OVER $100 SUPPLEMENTAL FORM

CITIZENS FOR JAKE ZIMMERMAN [pdf] 7/15/2015

Benjamin Murray 3616 Cleveland Avenue St. Louis MO 63110 4/1/2015 Campaign Worker $10,000.00

Solvency Group 826 University Place Detroit MI 48230 4/14/2015 Fundraising $3,500.00

Solvency Group 826 University Place Detroit MI 48230 5/14/2015 Fundraising $3,500.00

[emphasis added]

======================

Scott Sifton’s (D) 2016 attorney general campaign filed its July quarterly campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:

C091061: Scott Sifton For Missouri

  Committee Type: Candidate

Po Box 4396 Party Affiliation: Democrat

St Louis Mo 63123 Established Date: 02/19/2009

[….]

Information Reported On: 2015 – July Quarterly Report

Beginning Money on Hand $440,679.28

Monetary Receipts + $100,033.91

Monetary Expenditures – $27,570.82

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $25,000.00

Subtotal     $47,463.09

Ending Money On Hand   $488,142.37

[emphasis added]

Rough fundraising parity and a competitive cash on hand. There is $110,000.00 in outstanding indebtedness.

The contributions:

Contributions to Scott Sifton’s (D) 2016 attorney general campaign reported on its July 2015 quarterly campaign finance report.

Contributions to Scott Sifton’s (D) 2016 attorney general campaign reported on its July 2015 quarterly campaign finance report.

MO Optometric PAC $3,000.00

Express Scripts $2,000.00

James M. Dowd Law Firm $1,500.00

McCormack Baron Salazar $1,000.00

BNSF Railway $1,000.00

Geneva Shearburn $1,000.00

Polsinelli $1,000.00

UNITE HERE Union Local #74 $1,000.00

Anheuser Busch Companies $1,000.00

Charles Nester $1,000.00

PHLV $1,000.00

Sheet Metal Workers $1,000.00

Patricia Scaglia $1,000.00

Randy Alberhasky $1,000.00

MOSFA Pac $1,000.00

Travelers Indemnity $1,000.00

Evergreen Investments $1,000.00

Realtors PAC $1,000.00

Mid States $1,000.00

GibbonsWorkman $1,000.00

Joan Callis $1,000.00

FEAPAC $1,000.00

Vehicle Protection Association $1,000.00

Reliant Care Management $1,000.00

Luxco $1,000.00

Shelter Insurance $750.00

MO Truck PAC $750.00

Gregory Bratcher $600.00

Rush Robinson $500.00

James Ash $500.00

Quality Building $500.00

John McArthur $500.00

Robert Tomaso $500.00

Joy Doll $500.00

Centurylink $500.00

Dave Fenley $500.00

Missouri Dental PAC $500.00

Susan Philpott $500.00

Jack Martorelli $500.00

MO Asphalt Pavement Assoc $500.00

Paul Kalsbeek $500.00

Dan Burkhardt $500.00

Commercial Bank $500.00

St. Louis Labor Council AFL-CIO $500.00

MBA Capitol Region $500.00

Roger Wright $500.00

MLPA Legislative Fund $500.00

Phil Scaglia $500.00

Don Schlapprizzi $500.00

Fire Fighters Local 42 PAC $500.00

Heat and Frost Insulators $500.00

Steven Torline $500.00

MO American Water Employees $500.00

Responsible Building PAC $500.00

Travis Noble $500.00

Wes Rogers $500.00

Amy Wachs $500.00

Gregg Lombardi $500.00

American Family Insurance $500.00

Robert Haar $500.00

Independent Bankers Association PAC $500.00

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers $500.00

Gas Workers Local 5-6 $500.00

Rick Brenner $500.00

Branch 343 National Association of Letter Carriers $350.00

Douglas Kennedy $300.00

Mary Creamer $250.00

Lucky Maynard $250.00

David Richardson $250.00

Larry Ward $250.00

David Clithero $250.00

Eric Trelz $250.00

Bob Stuber $250.00

Zane Cagle $250.00

David Sobelman $250.00

Jeff Demerath $250.00

Dick Deshon $250.00

SITE Improvement Association $250.00

Larry J Pitts $250.00

Douglas Schmidt $250.00

Susan Block $250.00

William James $250.00

Claire Owen $250.00

Missouri Association Of Municipal Utilities $250.00

Harry Wilson $250.00

Kenneth Slavens $250.00

Teresa Maledy $250.00

IBEW Local Union 1439 $250.00

John Crossley $250.00

Eli Karsh $250.00

Michael Nepple $250.00

Schuchat Cook and Werner $250.00

Rita Baron $250.00

Wally Bley $200.00

Nancy Copenhaver $200.00

Frank Keefe $200.00

William Demarest $200.00

Ben Lewis $200.00

Nancy Patterson $200.00

Gary Myers $200.00

Kathleen Mueller $200.00

Sidney Johnson $200.00

Richard Greenberg $200.00

Pauli Kendrick $200.00

Jordan Ault $150.00

Judith Mann $150.00

Michael Moroni $150.00

Brianna Lennon $150.00

Vernon Scoville $150.00

Mike Heins $125.00

Saul Pwanson $125.00

Patrick Witte $100.00

James Gates $100.00

Nancy Mogab $100.00

Margaret A. Eaton $100.00

Wyse Law Firm $100.00

Shulamith Simon $100.00

William Demarest $100.00

William Schlosser $100.00

Courtney Cole $100.00

Michael McNeil $100.00

Susan Plassmeyer $100.00

Doug Beck $100.00

Sarah Pleban $100.00

Glaziers, Architectural Metal and Glassworkers $100.00

Luxemberg Realty $100.00

Vernon Scoville $100.00

Pamela Coffin $100.00

Patrick Witte $100.00

William Richter $100.00

Bob Fanning $50.00

Rebecca Blackwell $50.00

Kathy Rieck $50.00

William Schlosser $50.00

Rea Kleeman $50.00

Max Wolfrum $50.00

Rea Kleeman $50.00

Timothy McBride $50.00

Richard Sifton $35.00

Ron Gibbs $25.00

Rebecca Blackwell $25.00

Ed Weisbart $20.00

Ed Weisbart $20.00

Ed Weisbart $20.00

Also:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS RECEIVED

SCOTT SIFTON FOR MISSOURI [pdf] 7/15/2015

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $3,430.00

[emphasis added]

Some of the expenditures:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES OVER $100 SUPPLEMENTAL FORM

SCOTT SIFTON FOR MISSOURI [pdf] 7/15/2015

Show-Me Victories 409 N 15th St Saint Louis MO 63103-2454 4/13/2015 Retainer $12,800.00

Previously:

Campaign Finance: now we know where the rest of the million dollars went (October 15, 2014)

Why would anyone trust Kurt Schaefer? (April 14, 2015)

===========

There is another (January 27, 2015)

Campaign Finance: also in under the wire (April 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: now that’s personal commitment (April 2, 2015)

===========

Sen. Scott Sifton (D): running for Attorney General in 2016 (November 10, 2014)

Campaign Finance: the long road to 2016 (November 12, 2014)

Campaign Finance: St. Louis (November 25, 2014)

Sen. Scott Sifton (D) at the Back to Blue Dinner in Cass County – April 25, 2015 (April 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: right at the end of the quarter (July 3, 2015)

State Senator Kurt Schaefer (R-19) wants to be Missouri’s next Attorney General. He wants it a lot since he announced his plans to run in 2016 over a year ago. Consequently he’s been very busy  getting his name out before the public. But not just any public. His constituency of choice seems to be the reddest dregs of this increasingly red state. It’s  hard to think of just about any rightwing bandwagon he hasn’t tried to ride since declaring his candidacy, no matter how rickety:

Tax Cuts for Rich Folks: Evidence suggests that Schaefer supports the Kansas tax “experiment” and would be willing to beggar Missouri’s middle and working class in order to give big tax cuts to rich folks and their businesses. When state GOPers recently fêted Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Schaefer, who is currently the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, opined that the governor had “some really compelling numbers.” This is in spite of what Politico has dubbed the “Brownback effect,” observing that “Republicans once idolized Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback as a tax cutting superstar – now he’s a lesson in what not to do.” Evidently Schaeffer didn’t get the message. Or else he actually takes seriously dishonest statistics of the sort that billionaire Rex Sinquefield published in Forbes Magazine in order to make the Kansas experiment look like it is succeeding, or at least not as disastrous as it is proving to be.

Social Spending Cuts: Schaeffer, like so many GOPers before him, seems to think it’s okay to fund tax cuts – favored by rich political donors like Rex Sinquefield – by cutting the ground out from under those who lack the wherewithal and the influence to fund his climb to the top of the Missouri political heap. He’s proposed cutting $130 million from the already meager amount allocated by the House to social services, health and mental health services. He says that the agencies are wasteful and that cuts are necessary to slow their growth.

It is true that Missouri’s social services are currently not functioning too well. Ill-considered cuts and the resulting “reforms” over the past few years have taken a steep toll, a situation that many take as evidence that they need more rather than less money. According to figures supplied by state budget officials, Schaefer’s claims of waste perhaps reflect his ideological biases rather than a close analysis of the real-life situation. As for out-of-control growth? Wouldn’t you expect that as Missouri continues its GOP-led transformation into a poverty stricken backwater, one might expect demand for services to increase – a demand, that folks like Schaefer are determined not to meet.

Guns “R”Us: Schaefer was one of the motivating forces behind Missouri’s Amendment 5, a constitutional amendment voted in by the gun-mad hordes who dominate mid-term elections in Missouri. This amendment, under the rubric of an “inalienable” right to own guns, was so badly written that it has made it impossible to bar convicted felons from gun ownership. As the St Louis Post-Dispatch described it, Schaefer’s decision “to start acting like a pandering fool” has had a scary, but entirely predictable – and predicted – result:

… .In a state in which there are more gun deaths than traffic deaths, in which toddlers are grabbing mommy and daddy’s guns and firing away, in which cities are being told by a Legislature there is nothing they can do about gun violence, now convicted felons can own guns and there is nothing the police can do about it.

Again, let me reiterate. This guy’s a lawyer – and he even wants to be the state’s main lawyer. If his legal acumen was insufficient to locate the problems in what was essentially his baby, a lot of other folks pointed them out before it was too late to fix them. Now Schaefer’s twisting and turning, trying to find a way to prove that “Amendment 5 doesn’t mean what it says.” Sadly, the courts don’t agree.

So stop and think. Either Schaefer is, as the Post-Dispatch implies, a spineless panderer, or he’s out-and-out stupid. He’s either taken in by or cynically peddling obviously failing, ideologically driven voodoo economic theories, GOP welfare queen vilification, and the Guns equal God ideology of hardcore gun crazies. Either way what rational, unbiased person could trust him to act in the best interests of the people of Missouri – either in the State Senate where he now works his backwards magic, or as Attorney General? Is the distinction even meaningful? If the sum of a politician’s major legislative efforts are stupid and harmful then it’s doesn’t make much difference if the motivation is incompetence or venality. For all practical purposes that individual is a fool.

Previously: Campaign Finance: making a choice (October 15, 2014)

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C081145 10/15/2014 CITIZENS TO ELECT KURT SCHAEFER ATTORNEY GENERAL Rex Sinquefield 244 Bent Walnut Westphalia MO 65085 retired retired 10/15/2014 $250,000.00

[emphasis added]

It’s penny ante for some people. Just not for the vast majority.

It looks like one more year will come and go with no Obamacare Medicaid expansion. Why won’t the Republican fools in Jefferson City do what’s right when it comes to Medicaid? Temper tantrums because the GOP doesn’t like the scary black man in the white house and want to scuttle his legacy? Sure. Pandering to special interests who don’t want to pay their fair share? Of course. Efforts to insure failure of government run social programs that would otherwise deflect power from the GOP? That too. And there’s certainly plenty of delusional thinking, not to mention the ugly, retrograde political ideologies that have resurfaced in recent years.

Martin Longman speculates that the tantrum over Obamacare has extended so long and has been played out so passionately and so irrationally that there’s no way now for the committed GOP to retreat:

What’s interesting is that the Republicans’ are so dependent on ObamaCare being unpopular that they have to try to convince people it is failing even though it certainly is not. It’s not enough to point at polls about the law because those polls will change over time. They have to try to keep the polls low any way they can. One way to do that is to keep the myth alive among their base. Another way is to misinform as many people outside their circle as possible. Finally, they can work the refs in the media to the best of their ability, but that isn’t going to work anymore for media that aren’t formally or informally working for the Republican Party.

All undoubtedly true. But what this GOP miscalculation means in practical terms for Missouri is that no matter how empty their opposition is shown to be, the hardcore deadenders that populate many of the GOP seats in the Jefferson City will fight until their last breath against Obamacare, so, since Medicaid expansion under the program would be a big win, it can’t be allowed.  

This irrational animus is the sole reason why state Senator John Lamping (R-19), when confronted with efforts from those in his own party to find a way to take a good deal without losing face, insisted no way, “this is done. It’s not happening. Go find something else to do.” It’s why state Senator Kurt Schaefer (R-19) thinks an opportunity to do something to help his constituents is a “problem,” whining about “why is this somehow now our problem, and our immediate problem that has to be solved by us before the end of the session, when we didn’t create this problem?” It’s kind of like  having a meltdown when you win the lottery because you’re too stupid to figure out how to claim the prize.

But reality’s a bitch and, as they say, what goes round comes round, so sooner or later reality will catch up with the particular butt-end of the GOP that is now running the Republican show. Small solace though, since meanwhile, Missouri, currently ranked 39th in the nation for health outcomes, will continue to hover around the bottom, and, what’s even worse, people will actually, needlessly, die just so a few Republican diehards can save face and can continue to insist for a few more years that Obamacare really is a harbringer of Armageddon.  

Today’s St. Louis Political Dispatch tells me that state Senator Kurt Schaefer (R-19) has labeled Governor Nixon’s proposed 2015 budget a “political fiction,” based on the Governor’s estimate of a revenue growth rate of 5.2%. One can dispute the premises of the budget in a number of ways, but maybe Senator Schaefer should be careful about calling others out for purveying political fiction. Schaefer, after all, is the same politician who defended his opposition to accepting Obamacare Medicaid expansion funding, which would have helped insure thousands of poor Missourians, by claiming that it would ultimately hurt education, declaring unequivocally that, “I am firmly convinced as the chairman of appropriations that there is no possible way to do Medicaid expansion and not have a serious negative impact on public education.”

Of course the Medicaid expansion would have been fully funded by the federal government for the first three years and the state would have had to pick up funding for only 10% of the cost thereafter. The truth of the matter, as opposed to Schaefer’s contrived political fiction, seems to be that if Missouri doesn’t get in on this, the state will have missed out on a rare bargain that would better the lot of its citizens at a very low cost. All of which leaves one wondering if Schaefer might have a serious problem when it comes to distinguishing political fiction from reality, which would, of course, render the issue of Nixon’s budget – is it fictional or not? – moot.

But it gets even worse. It’s clear, after all, that Schaefer’s wailing about the fantasy damage that Medicaid will do to education in Missouri hasn’t stopped him from refusing to endorse revenue enhancements that are necessary if the struggling educational system is not to be damaged any more than it already has been. He’s actually sponsored another of those massive tax cut bills, SB733, that seem to get GOP juices going in spite of the potential to beggar state coffers, and, in the process, decimate public education in Missouri.

The damage to Missouri education that Schaefer is willing to countenance gets even more specific. According to the Post-Dispatch article, Schaefer’s response to the Governor’s proposed infusion of public funds into the foundation formula, the means by which the state attempts to equitably allocate money to public schools, was that the amount was too high. He can say this although the formula has been underfunded for the past three years and the amount of public funds that Governor Nixon is proposing to put into the system does not come close to closing the gap. The formula was underfunded by $621 million in 2013 and the governor is proposing to supplement it with only $278 million, but Kurt Schaefer thinks that this is more than we can afford. Yet this very same man thinks that Missouri can afford to refuse the return of federal money for Medicaid expansion – money that Missouri tax-payers paid into the federal system – because he, for some trumped up reason, thinks it will hurt education funding.

Since fiction is a realm where the normal logical rules need not apply, I’d say that these interrelated snippits of Senator Schaefer’s world-view might indicate that the gentleman himself inhabits a pretty fictional political universe. The question is, as always, why do Missourians continue to opt for fiction over fact when they elect their representatives? Don’t they see what’s happening as the state hurtles toward a very real, non-fictional bottom?

*Last sentence in 2nd paragraph edited slightly for clarity.  

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission, for a republican candidate for Attorney General in 2016:

C081145 01/02/2014 CITIZENS TO ELECT KURT SCHAEFER ATTORNEY GENERAL Otto Maly 1505 Highlands Court Columbia MO 65203 Maly Commercial Realty realtor 12/31/2013 $20,000.00

C081145 01/02/2014 CITIZENS TO ELECT KURT SCHAEFER ATTORNEY GENERAL Glazer Distributors of Missouri One Glazer Way St Charles MO 63301 1/2/2014 $7,413.07

[emphasis added]

Well, at least the first one was a nice, round number.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: a travel[]er from an antique land (November 19, 2013)

Campaign Finance: Why, that’s a nice round number, don’t you think? (October 6, 2013)

And for the really big bucks:

Campaign Finance: it must be nice (July 15, 2013)

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C081145 10/06/2013 CITIZENS TO ELECT KURT SCHAEFER ATTORNEY GENERAL Sterling Bank 1100 Sterling Drive Poplar Bluff MO 63901 10/4/2013 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

We look forward to the republican primary ads discussing the finer points of delusional teabagger purity. We suggest investing in popcorn and butter futures.

Kurt Schaefer (r) is running for something in 2016. At the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C081145: Citizens To Elect Kurt Schaefer

Po Box 1614 Committee Type: Candidate

Columbia Mo 65205 Party Affiliation: Republican

[….] Established Date: 04/04/2008

[….]

Election History

Election Year Primary Outcome General Outcome Political Office

2016 Statewide Office

[….]

[emphasis added]

Today:

C081145 07/15/2013 CITIZENS TO ELECT KURT SCHAEFER Catherine L. Schaefer Trust 1140 Jo Carr Drive Town and Country MO 63017 7/15/2013 $500,000.00

[emphasis added]

It just goes to show you that liberals always throw money at problems. Oh, wait…

Introduced by Senator Kurt Schaefer (r) and first read on January 17, 2013:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY SENATORS SCHAEFER, MUNZLINGER AND KEHOE.

Read 1st time January 17, 2013, and ordered printed.

TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.

1027S.02I

JOINT RESOLUTION

Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing section 23 of article I of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to the right of Missouri citizens to keep and bear arms.

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:

That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 2014, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article I of the Constitution of the state of Missouri:

Section A. Section 23, article I, Constitution of Missouri, are repealed and one new section adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 23, to read as follows:

Section 23. That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, family and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned [; but this shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons]. The rights guaranteed by this section shall be inalienable. The state of Missouri shall be obligated to uphold these rights and shall under no circumstances decline to protect against their infringement.

EXPLANATION–Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law.

[strike through emphasis added]

So, if this gets approved conceal carry becomes a constitutional right. Any where any time?

Hatfields and McCoys! To what degree of consanguinity? Just asking.

Standard republican operating procedure.

Representative Mary Still (D), the Democratic Party candidate in the 19th Senate District, on the floor of the Missouri House, March 21, 2012.

In April 9, 2011, in the Washington Monthly:

…On the Senate floor yesterday, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), eager to prove that the budget debate wasn’t just about Planned Parenthood, spent some time on the Senate floor going after Planned Parenthood.

“Everybody goes to clinics, to doctors, to hospitals, so on,” Kyl said. “Some people go to Planned Parenthood. But you don’t have to go to Planned Parenthood to get your cholesterol or your blood pressure checked. If you want an abortion, you go to Planned Parenthood, and that’s well over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does.”

That’s not even close to being accurate. Just 3% of the organization’s work is related to terminating pregnancies, while “well over 90% of Planned Parenthood does” relates to preventative health care services….

….As political spin goes, this is a true gem. Kyl said abortion is “well over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does” — a blatant lie — and when called on it, his defense is that his remarks on the Senate floor were “not intended to be a factual statement.” What an amazing way to justify all bogus claims — just make stuff up, and if anyone notices that you’re not telling the truth, simply explain that your nonsense was “not intended to be a factual statement….”

[emphasis added]

Today, in the 19th Senate District race, a story about a republican attack piece against Mary Still (D):

GOP ad accusing Still of missing votes takes liberties with dates

By Rudi Keller

Saturday, October 27, 2012

A Republican direct mail piece attacking Rep. Mary Still for missing votes includes a mention of 100 votes taken while she was hospitalized and cites dates when Still was either on hand or the House was on vacation….

….The fact that the dates used are not dates when Still actually missed votes do not undermine the message of the circular, said Jonathon Prouty, spokesman for the Missouri GOP. “If the statements that are made are not actual statements but made to highlight a particular part of the failed record, then the dates are insignificant,” he said…..

We live in a post fact, post truth, post sane America. The stoopid, it burns.